Heater-Cooler Lawsuit Pennsylvania

A man from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, who underwent open-heart surgery at WellSpan York Hospital has filed a notice of claim against the facility over a “very poorly cleaned” heater-cooler device that’s been linked to an outbreak of severe bacterial infections.

Free Confidential Case Evaluation: If you developed a serious infection or other injury following a medical procedure in which a heater-cooler device was used, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a suit and our lawyers can help.

What’s the Problem?

November 20, 2015 – Last month, WellSpan sent letters (PDF) to 1,300 patients who had open-heart surgery at York Hospital between Oct.1, 2011, and Jan. 24, 2015, warning them of potential exposure to Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) linked to heater-cooler use during surgery.

According to the letter, at least 8 patients at the hospital had developed an NTM infection, 4 of whom died. Another infected patient has since died. John Elmer Bosley, who filed the notice of claim with his wife today, was not one of the 8 patients mentioned in the letter.

It has yet to be determined whether Bosley has a valid case, but the notice was required due to Pennsylvania’s 2-year statute of limitations for medical negligence. He had open-heart surgery in Nov. 2013.

The notice states that Bosley was exposed to nontuberculous mycobacteria “via a very poorly cleaned heater/cooler machine used during the surgery”; however, the investigation will be looking at other types of bacterial infections as well.

“The operating room became a vehicle for transmissions of diseases,” Bosley said, pointing out that WellSpan had admitted not cleaning its heater-cooler according to manufacturer recommended guidelines. “To limit it to (NTM) infections isn’t complete. I wouldn’t rule out any infection (being caused by negligence).”

Do I Have a Heater-Cooler Lawsuit?

The Medical Device Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in heater-cooler lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new injury and death cases in all 50 states.

Free Confidential Case Evaluation: Again, if you or a loved one was injured by a medical heater-cooler, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a class action suit and our lawyers can help.